It's Okay
by what-is-a-social-life
Summary: "Farkle spends the first few years of his life being shuffled from apartment to apartment. Daddy reads the better bedtime stories, but he can't cook, and Mommy's waffles are really yummy, but she can't do the voices when reading like Daddy does. Daddy always looks tired and Mommy always has a smile on her face that doesn't look quite right, but they both love him, so it's okay."


**DISCLAIMER: I do not own these.**

 **A/N: This story is a companion to my other GMW stories, but the Jennifer-Stuart section of "Entr'acte" is the only one you might want to read.**

 **This isn't as long as I wanted it to be, but I like the way it turned out. Enjoy!**

* * *

Farkle spends the first few years of his life being shuffled from apartment to apartment. Daddy reads the better bedtime stories, but he can't cook, and Mommy's waffles are really yummy, but she can't do the voices when reading like Daddy does. Daddy always looks tired and Mommy always has a smile on her face that doesn't look quite right, but they both love him, so it's okay.

* * *

He's three when he sees his parents kiss for the first time. He's supposed to be asleep, but he heard loud, angry voices coming from the kitchen, so he hides in his bedroom doorway with his thumb in his mouth as he clutches his green blankie close to his chest. One of his friends has parents who are getting divorced, which Luke said just means that they fight a lot and now he's going to get two houses. Farkle already has this. Are his parents getting divorced?

"Why does this bother you so much?" Daddy says to Mommy, who is angrily frosting cupcakes for the preschool's annual bake sale.

"Don't you realize how this will look if you two get married? Hello, this is my wife, Sarah, and our perfect 2.5 kids, and then this is my bastard Farkle, and his mother, Jennifer!"

Farkle doesn't know what 'bastard' means, but he frowns at the way Mommy says it. He can't tell if she's sad or angry and he doesn't like that at all.

"Married? Jennifer, I just started going out with h-"

"Stuart," Mommy interrupts, sounding very serious, but not looking Daddy in the eye, "I don't want you to walk away from him."

" _Farkle_?" Daddy asks, in shock, and Mommy nods without looking at him.

Farkle watches as Daddy slowly takes the cupcake and the knife out of Mommy's hands and tilts her head up to look at him.

"I would never, ever even dream of walking away from him. From either of you."

"Please. If it weren't for him-"

"Jennifer, please don't do this," Daddy says, tucking a piece of flyaway hair behind Mommy's ear. "I would be here even if he wasn't, and you know it."

That's when Mommy bends down and kisses Daddy on the mouth. Daddy looks confused at first, but then he's wrapping his arms around her and she sits him on the counter. He opens his mouth like he wants to say something, but Mommy kisses him again and he shuts up.

Farkle doesn't quite understand what's happening and returns to his room, but after that, Mommy and Daddy are always holding hands and kissing and he's never seen Mommy _giggle_ before, but now he has, usually whenever Daddy whispers something in her ear. Soon, all of his stuff from Mommy's house _and_ Daddy's house moves into a whole new house, where his parents share a room, and it's all new but he likes it.

And Farkle still doesn't understand when Mommy starts throwing up in the mornings so Daddy has to drive him to school, or when she yells at Daddy and then starts sobbing for yelling at him, but soon he's told that he's going to have a little brother or sister, and he's now fairly certain his parents are not divorced, but they love each other, so it's okay.

* * *

He's four when he meets his little sisters: Millie and Lillie. He finds them boring and squishy and smelly and doesn't understand why Grammy and Grampy and Gam and Pop-Pop and Aunt Meredith and Uncle Joe spend so much time with them. He tries to run away after Mommy, Daddy, and his nanny Helena all forget to pick him up from preschool, but Mommy catches him and says he's never allowed to leave because she and Daddy love him too much.

He hugs her, and then Daddy comes home and gives him more hugs, and they all watch a movie in their pajamas while eating ice cream while the twins nap, and then Farkle spends a whole hour playing with his boring little sisters, but he loves them, so it's okay.

* * *

Right before Farkle starts kindergarten, he's squeezed into a suit and told to carry a pillow with rings on it as he walks from standing next to Grammy and Grampy up to where Daddy is standing. Millie and Lillie trail behind him, scattering flower petals on the floor.

It takes him longer than he would like to admit to realize that it means his parents are married, and that he has a real family, just like everybody else, but he's happy now, so it's okay.

* * *

He's seven when he first realizes that he has an embarrassing name. Kids are mean, and the sooner you learn that, the better. His parents tell him not to listen to people trying to hurt his feelings because he's an individual and people will try his whole life to bring him down but they won't be able to.

People still laugh when he says his name, though.

But in second grade, he meets Riley Matthews and Maya Hart. Riley is literally made of sunshine and Maya's too tough for a kid her age, but they're friends with him even though he has a silly name, so it's okay.

* * *

He's thirteen when he realizes his mom's not okay.

His dad jokes about how he should have married Topanga, and explains it when people gawk at him when Jennifer is literally standing next to him: He and Topanga are much more similar than he and Jennifer are, and then everyone laughs, even his mom.

But when they get home, she starts crying and screaming and Helena tells him and the twins to go to their rooms in their giant apartment that's too big for six people. Farkle watches his parents from his bedroom door as his mom takes off her engagement ring- not her wedding ring, he notes with a rush of relief, but her engagement ring- and throws it at his father. Sadly, this whole exchange has become a too-common occurrence in the Minkus household as Stuart just picks it up and sets it down on the end table before wrapping Jennifer in a hug and kissing her head. He's glad that his dad still cares about his mom, but something's wrong with her. He's not sure what it is, but he wants to help her.

He asks his mom about it the next day, and she just gives him this long look and starts crying.

A month later, his parents sit them down and explain that his mom is seeing a doctor now and she's recommended that Jennifer enters a facility for a little while. Millie and Lillie start crying and Helena comes in and leads them to their rooms, but Farkle just sits there. His parents hug him, though, and Jennifer explains that she's doing this for him and the girls and she loves him and she's going to get better, so it's okay.

* * *

He's fourteen when he realizes that he really likes Isadora Smackle.

And this feeling continues.

And, even better, she returns those feelings, and it's so much better than just 'it's okay.'

* * *

It's graduation. Middle school, nothing major. But at the same time… Feels kind of major. His parents both helped him write his speech and Helena lets him practice it for her dozens of times. His mom's getting better every day and his dad hasn't lost everything yet. Things are looking up at the Minkuses, he thinks.

At the last minute, Millie and Lillie get stomach bugs and Helena's gone on vacation, so Jennifer isn't able to come to graduation, but watches the live stream. He goes to the Matthews' for the little after party they're hosting. He meets Zay's brothers and his sister and his parents, and wonders how Lucas was able to be all Texas-Lucas with a mother like Mary Grace.

Zay and Lucas spend the night at his apartment while their parents are at some event their dads' boss is hosting. They mess around with his virtual reality equipment and watch baseball. Zay gets on this long-winded rant about high school and college and speaks for almost half an hour straight. He's talking so fast, Farkle only follows what feels like a third of what he says. Lucas complains about the triangle but he and Zay have no sympathy, even though Farkle thinks he and Zay are united on who Lucas cares more about.

Smackle texts at about three AM a simple kiss-blowing emoji. He smiles down at his phone and sends one back before plugging it in and going to sleep. Tomorrow- well, later that day, really- is going to start a new chapter in his life, he can feel it.

And, surprisingly enough, it's okay.


End file.
